The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Internal combustion engines create drive torque that is transferred to a drivetrain via a crankshaft. More specifically, air is drawn into an engine and is mixed with fuel therein. The air and fuel mixture is combusted within cylinders to drive pistons. The pistons drive the crankshaft, which generates drive torque.
A cylinder pressure sensor generates a cylinder pressure signal based on the pressure in the cylinder. A control module determines a cylinder pressure from the cylinder pressure signal. Cylinder pressure is used to control one or more subsystems within the vehicle. Cylinder pressure sensors may lose accuracy due to contamination from combustion byproducts. Errors in the cylinder pressure can cause inaccurate cylinder pressure computations and therefore may cause one or more vehicle subsystems to operate inefficiently.